When it comes to filming nature documentaries, there's one unwritten rule: no intervention.
Whatever scene is unfurling in front of them, the crews must let nature take its course – even if it has particularly brutal consequences.
But in a now-famous clip from 2018's Dynasties, the team decided to disregard this rule.
Around 50 Emperor penguins and their chicks had found themselves trapped in a deep, icy ravine after a blizzard separated them from their colony. Some chicks had already frozen to death. As one crew member says, “I know it’s natural but it’s bloody hard to watch.”
Two days later, with very few of the penguins managing to make their way out of the gully, the team had two options: watch the animals die, or start digging.
As David Attenborough narrates, “It’s fairly rare for a film crew to intervene. But they realised that they may be able to save at least some of these birds, simply by digging a few steps in the ice.”
And speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the episode was broadcast, series executive producer Mike Gunton explained: “I was speaking to David about it yesterday and he said he would have done the same too.”
“There were no animals going to suffer by intervening. It wasn’t dangerous. You weren’t touching the animals and it was just felt by doing this... they had the opportunity to not have to keep slipping down the slope.”
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Top image: Emperor penguins in Antarctica. Credit: Getty
